Jobs report tileUnemployment in metropolitan Chattanooga rose seven-tenths of a percent in January to 6.6 percent, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said today.
The number of unemployed persons in the 6-county Chattanooga region increased at the start of 2015 by 1,890 from December 2014 to January 2015. But employment also rose in January despite cutbacks in holiday-related jobs.
State labor records indicate the number of Chattanoogans on the job climbed by 230 jobs in January. Because the workforce grew faster than the job additions, however, the jobless rate rose during the month.
Unemployment in Southeast Tennessee was lowest in Hamilton and Bradley counties, both with 6.6 percent unemployment rates in January. Those rates remained well above the U.S. jobless rate of 5.7 percent in January.
Joblessness was highest in the region in Grundy County at 10 percent, the only county in Southeast Tennessee with a double-digit unemployment rate.